43rd GENERALI EUROPEAN BRIDGE CHAMPIONSHIPS DAILY BULLETIN Editor: J.-P. Meyer • Co-Editor: M. Horton • Web Editor: Th. Matziaris No.: 5 • Wednesday, 18 June 1997

Results	Contents
OPEN TEAMS, Round 8 OPEN TEAMS, Round 9 OPEN TEAMS, Round 10 LADIES TEAMS, Round 1 LADIES TEAMS, Round 2 BUTLER scoring, Round 9	Ladies Pairs by Brian Senior & Tony Gordon Another way to Squeeze a Lady by Radoslaw Kielbasinsky Match of the Day EBL Congress To Err is Human

In the Open series, Italy had an excellent day, scoring 69 Victory Points from their three matches, and they increased their advantage at the head of the table. Although we are not yet even a third of the way through the Championships few people would now be prepared to bet against them retaining their title. Denmark held onto second place by scoring 62VP, and Poland and Iceland also scored well by collecting 59VP. Great Britain had a good day, and have climbed to the vital fifth place, half a point in front of Poland. It is worth pointing out that Italy already enjoy a lead of 36VP over the sixth placed team.

FLYING START FOR SPAIN

In the Ladies series, Spain took the lead by scoring 49 Victory points, and they are followed by Great Britain on 46VP, Hungary with 45.5VP, and France on 44VP. The hot favourites, Germany, are a handily placed fifth with 42VP. Monaco achieved the biggest upset of the day by beating the powerful Danish team by a remarkable 24-6VP. A major surprise was the poor form shown by the host country Italy, who could only collect a total of 12VP from their two matches. Perhaps 'Tipster' was right after all!

The Russian pair, Gromova and Volina, started the last session of the final with a slender lead over the holders, Auken and von Arnim of Germany, with Italy's Golin and Olivieri in third place. The Russians had already lost their lead when they suffered three blows in quick succession:

Board 5. Dealer North. N/S Game J 9 2 6 5 2 Q 4 A K Q 8 2 8 4 K Q 10 7 K 8 4 10 9 3 A K J 9 8 3 2 10 7 6 10 J 7 4 A 6 5 3 A Q J 7 5 9 6 5 3 West North East South Gromova Volina 1 Pass 1 4 Pass Pass Dble All Pass

Gromova led the K and needed to switch to hearts to defeat the contract. However, she continued clubs and declarer subsequently got a heart away on a spade to chalk up +510 and gain all the matchpoints.

On the next board Volina was missing the ace and queen of diamonds and ran a diamond switch round to her jack instead of rising with dummy's king. This caused her to go one down in her 2 contract to score only 2 MPs. A good round for the opponents, Vellutini and Masotti of Italy.

Board 7. Dealer South. Game All A J 9 8 4 Q 2 Q 8 3 2 Q 8 7 5 3 K 10 2 A 7 6 3 9 5 K J 6 10 9 4 K 4 2 A 10 9 5 3 Q 6 K J 10 8 4 A 7 5 J 7 6 West North East South Gromova Volina 1 Pass 1 Pass 1NT Pass 2NT All Pass

With an unattractive hand to lead from, West hit upon the diabolical lead of the J. Volina won this in hand with the ace and attacked hearts. West won the second round and played king and another diamond. To finesse at this point assumes that West has misdefended, but Volina did indeed finesse the 8 and eventually went one down for only 4 MPs out of 26.

The intermediate ranking lists were discontinued after 12 boards and at this stage Olivieri/Golin had a good lead of almost two tops over Auken/von Arnim. The next few boards didn't appear to have changed the position very much.

Board 15. Dealer South. N/S Game Q 10 3 J 9 7 K 2 9 8 7 6 4 8 6 A K 9 7 5 K 8 6 2 A J 1O 8 5 Q 9 6 4 Q J 5 3 A 10 J 4 2 A Q 10 5 4 3 7 3 K 2 West North East South Endeova Olivieri Batelova Golin 1 Pass 2 4 All Pass

The leaders suffered a setback when their Czech opponents sailed into 4 and proceeded to make it. Golin led a trump against 4 and Batelova won the queen with the king and led a heart up. Golin took her ace and switched to a diamond but declarer rose with the ace and played a trump to the nine and jack. Golin played a second diamond to the king and Olivieri switched to a club but it was too late. Batelova rose with the ace, drew the missing trumps and her club loser went away on the diamonds; -420 for the Italians.

To beat the game Golin must duck the heart at trick two. Now she can underlead to Olivieri's jack when she wins her trump trick and a club comes through before the diamonds are established.

Meanwhile, Auken/von Arnim were playing in a safe 4 as East-West to chalk up a useful gain on the board.

Board 16. Dealer West. E/W Game 7 3 9 7 6 4 2 Q 9 5 K Q 5 8 4 Q J K Q 5 10 8 3 A K 10 3 J 8 6 4 2 J 8 7 6 A 9 4 A K 10 9 6 5 2 A J 7 10 3 2

Endeova opened 1 and Batelova responded 1NT. Golin thought about doing more but settled for a simple 2 overcall and played there. Endeova cashed A and switched to a low club. A smooth club switch is unlikely to be from the ace, so there is a case for running this to the ten. Golin actually played dummy's king and Batelova took the ace. A club back holds declarer to nine tricks but, after some thought, Batelova returned a diamond. Now Golin misplayed by ruffing, when discarding a loser establishes the Q and leads to ten tricks. She was very lucky, because Endeova had everything and seven rounds of spades crushed her into submission. The squeeze brought Golin back up to the same ten tricks she could have had by discarding on the second diamond; +170 and the Italians had got some of their money back.

The Germans were defending 3 and the first two tricks were identical. But at trick three Sabine Auken returned a club, holding declarer to nine tricks; -140.

Board 17. Dealer North. Love All K Q 10 5 8 7 3 4 2 A J 8 3 A 9 4 J 8 3 9 4 A J 10 6 5 2 A K 9 8 7 3 J 10 K 2 10 9 7 6 2 K Q Q 6 5 Q 7 6 5 4

The Italians met the other Czech pair on this round. Svobova/Pokorna bid 2 (multi) - 2NT - 3 (minimum with hearts) - 3. Olivieri led K, solving one of declarer's worries. Pokorna won the ace and led 4 to the ten and king. Golin switched to a club for the king and ace and Olivieri cashed Q and played back a club. Golin played a diamond and Pokorna won and took a second heart finesse; down one.

Meanwhile Auken/von Arnim were playing Polet and Driessens of Belgium in this round. Auken opened 2 as East and this was passed round to Polet who doubled for takeout. Driessens bid 3 and von Arnim competed to 3 to end the auction. Auken went one down, losing two hearts, two clubs and a spade.

Board 18. Dealer East. N/S Game 6 5 4 A Q 8 5 2 K 9 8 5 4 A Q 10 K J 9 8 5 A 6 2 J 9 8 J 9 4 3 K 10 7 J 10 7 A 3 7 4 3 2 K Q 10 7 3 6 Q 6 2

The Czechs bid this one 1 - 2 - 2 - 3. Golin led K and Svobodova ducked. Golin did not fall into the trap of playing a second heart, instead switching to a trump. Declarer won the queen and played J, won by Olivieri's ace. She played back a heart, establishing the second defensive trick in that suit, and Svobodova won and played a diamond to the ten. That was ruffed and Golin cashed the heart. There was still a club to come; -50.

The Germans bid 1 - 2NT - 3NT and von Arnim went one down after a club lead, suggesting a slight advantage to the Italians on the round.

Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Game 10 7 6 5 A 10 7 5 A 8 3 K 5 A K Q 9 2 4 8 3 6 4 9 5 J 7 6 4 2 J 7 3 2 A 9 8 6 4 J 8 3 K Q J 9 2 K Q 10 Q 10

A tough round on paper for the Germans, who were up against van der Pas/Vriend of the Netherlands. Marijke van der Pas opened 1 as dealer and von Arnim overcalled 1. Bep Vriend bid 2, at least a limit raise in hearts, and van der Pas signed-off in 3. But Vriend went on to game anyway, a dubious decision which was duly punished. von Arnim led four rounds of spades and, though the fourth one was over-ruffed, there was still a club to come; -50.

Olivieri/Golin played against Rigney and Dowling-Long of Ireland. After a similar start to the auction, Golin did not sign off but bid 4. She also lost three spades and a club for one down. A gain for the Germans. But the Italians fought bach on the next board:

Board 20. Dealer West. Game All A K Q 10 A K 10 9 2 K 7 J 10 J 7 5 9 7 6 5 4 Q J 8 3 Q 4 A 10 8 6 3 2 K Q 8 6 5 3 8 6 4 3 2 — J 9 5 A 9 7 4 2 West North East South Vriend van der Pas Pass 1 Pass 1 Pass 2NT Pass 3 Pass 4 Dble 4 All Pass

2NT was game-forcing and 4 showed a diamond control in a 4-5-2-2 hand. Auken doubled 4 for the lead and von Arnim duly led Q to the king and ace. A club switch puts declarer under pressure as the finesse of 9 could mean three losers, but Auken continued with diamonds and now the finesse was safe as the jack would provide a discard for dummy's club loser even if the nine lost. When the nine held, van der Pas played a spade to dummy, ruffed a heart, another spade to dummy and ruffed another heart. When the hearts broke 4-4, that was twelve tricks; -680.

The Italians bid: 1 - 1NT (showing spades) - 2 (enquiry) - 2 - 4. You might think a club was the most attractive lead now, but again the Q was chosen and again a diamond was returned at trick two. Declarer duly finessed and made the same twelve tricks for an excellent score.

Board 21. Dealer North. N/S Game 9 4 2 9 7 4 K Q 10 2 Q 7 2 A 6 K J 8 A 3 Q J 6 5 2 A J 9 6 7 5 3 A K 5 4 3 J 9 Q 10 7 5 3 K 10 8 8 4 10 8 6 West North East South von Arnim Pasman Auken Simons Pass Pass Pass 1 Pass 1 Pass 1NT Pass 2 Pass 2NT Pass 3NT Pass 4 All Pass

1 was strong and 1 a natural positive. 1NT relayed and 2 showed a single-suiter. 2NT was forcing and basically natural and the raise suggested 5-3-3-2. von Arnim decided that 4 would be better, ending the auction. The lead was a favourable spade round to the jack. The two 3-3 breaks in hearts and clubs mean that twelve tricks can now be made - declarer plays ace and another heart, wins the return and plays three rounds of clubs, ruffing. She can now draw the last trump and cross to dummy to cash the clubs.

All that good fortune seemed too much for which to hope and Auken preferred to unblock the A at trick two then play two rounds of hearts. Simons won the K and switched to a diamond and now there were not the entries to establish and cash the clubs. Auken finessed the 9, losing to the ten, and back came K. She won and played three rounds of clubs, ruffing, and could now draw trumps for +420. As she needed the clubs and hearts to break once the 10 was offside, perhaps the alternative line was better after all. The Italians conceded -430.

Board 22. Dealer East. E/W Game 7 4 3 A A 9 6 5 3 8 4 3 2 K 8 5 A J 6 2 Q 6 4 10 9 8 K Q J 10 4 A Q 9 7 6 K10 5 Q 10 9 K J 7 5 3 2 8 7 2 J

Simons opened a multi 2 and von Arnim overcalled 2NT. Auken raised to game via Stayman and Pasman chose to lead a low diamond. von Arnim won the queen, cashed A and, on seeing the fall of the jack, switched her attention to spades, finessing the jack. Simons won the queen and returned a diamond and Pasman won and cleared the suit. von Arnim cashed out now for ten tricks and a useful +630.

Meanwhile, the Italians were on the receiving end of a gift when their opponents had a mix-up and played in 4 on the 3-3 fit. In the circumstances, four down for -400 was as good as could be hoped for, but the complete top was just what the Italians needed.

With only four boards to play it seemed that the Italians must surely still have a comfortable lead and be heading for the gold medal; however, the Germans did considerably better on the next two boards.

Board 23. Dealer South. Game All A J 10 9 4 7 6 7 6 2 A 9 7 8 K Q 7 3 2 K Q J 5 A 10 9 4 3 2 Q J 5 3 — J 10 6 2 K 4 6 5 8 A K 10 9 8 4 Q 8 5 3 West North East South von Arnim Auken 2 Pass 3 4 Pass 4 All Pass

von Arnim opened with a weak 2 and Auken raised the ante, but East had an ideal hand for a cue bid of 4 and West had an easy bid of 4. Auken led the 6 and declarer ruffed in dummy and crossed to hand with a trump to play her singleton spade. After some thought, Auken withheld her ace and declarer eventually lost two spades and a club. Holding declarer to ten tricks was worth 20 MPs. The Italians conceded 450 to earn only 8 MPs.

Board 24. Dealer West. Love All A Q 7 K J 10 7 A K 9 8 3 4 K J 10 8 6 4 — A 6 5 Q 9 8 4 10 Q J 7 6 5 J 6 5 K 10 9 3 9 5 3 2 3 2 4 2 A Q 8 7 2 West North East South von Arnim Auken 2 2NT All Pass

Cohen and Zuccareli (France) Bronze Medal winners

Auken bid 2NT over the weak 2 opening and East led the 6 to the 10 and ace. With no obvious line of attack, Auken tried the J at trick two. East decided to duck this and West won with the ace. Her spade switch, won by Auken's queen, presented her partner with an awkward discard.

Eventually East selected a diamond, which seems an unwise choice with declarer marked with the rest of the suit, and Auken was quick to take advantage. She ducked a diamond to East and then finessed the Q when East switched to the 10. Leaving the A stranded in dummy, Auken crossed to the A and cleared the diamonds. East now had the unenviable choice of putting the A back in play or of leading into declarer's heart tenace. She chose the former course and Auken crossed to hand with the K and cashed her long diamond for her eighth trick. +120 was worth 18 MPs.

The Italians lost 100 and scored only 2 MPs. As it turned out, Auken/von Arnim were actually well clear with two boards remaining and could afford to score only 14 MPs in the last round and still retain their title by a top. Olivieri/Golin took the silver medal just ahead of Cohen/Zuccarelli of France who had to settle for bronze.

This interesting deal came up in the first session of the Ladies Pairs final.

Dealer East. Game All Q 10 8 J 9 7 6 K J 10 9 8 4 — J 6 3 2 7 5 4 A 10 4 Q 8 5 3 — A 6 3 2 A Q 10 8 6 2 5 3 A K 9 K 2 Q 7 5 K J 9 7 4 Open Room West North East South Krogulska Siwiek Banaszkiewicz Macieszcak Pass 1NT 2 2 Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass

West's Two Clubs promised at least 5-4 with clubs and a major.

West led the two of spades and declarer took the trick in hand with the ace and started on the diamonds. East won the third round and switched to the three of clubs (low from a doubleton), West capturing South's jack with the queen.

She then played a second spadse, taken in dummy by the queen. Now three more rounds of diamonds turned the heat on West. She could not afford to blank the ace of hearts as declarer would simply duck a heart, so she had to retain A10. Now it was a simple matter to throw West in by returning to hand with the king of spades and exiting with a club +600 was an excellent score.

Our coverage of this important encounter between the teams occupying the first two places was delayed by a small technical problem - no one gave us the hands!

Board 1. Dealer North. Love All A 5 2 Q 7 A K 6 K 9 8 7 4 10 6 J 7 10 9 A K 8 6 4 3 Q J 7 5 4 3 10 8 2 10 6 5 A Q K Q 9 8 4 3 J 5 2 9 J 3 2 Open Room West North East South Auken Bocchi Koch-Palmund Duboin 1 1 1 Pass 2 Pass 2 All Pass

Closed Room West North East South Versace Christiansen Lauria Blakset 1 1 1 Pass 3 Pass 4 All Pass

The Bridgerama commentators were very surprised when Duboin bid only two spades at his second turn. Perhaps the choice depends on how badly you want to be in every non-vulnerable game. With the club ace offside it was right to stop in a part-score and Italy took a five IMP lead.

Both teams missed an opportunity on the next board:

Board 2. Dealer East. N/S Game 8 6 A 6 5 A 10 6 2 J 6 3 2 7 A Q 5 3 2 J 10 9 7 8 4 2 J 7 5 4 3 A Q 10 9 7 4 K 5 K J 10 9 4 K Q 3 K Q 9 8 8 Open Room West North East South Auken Bocchi Koch-Palmund Duboin Pass 1 3 All Pass

Closed Room West North East South Versace Christiansen Lauria Blakset Pass 1 2 Pass 2NT Pass 3

In the Open Room South might have re-opened with a double and in the Closed Room North might have produced a red card at his second turn, the possible light opener opposite notwithstanding. It was a dull push.

Board 4. Dealer West. Game All 10 7 6 5 8 5 10 Q J 9 8 7 4 A Q 4 2 K 9 8 Q 7 6 A K J 10 9 7 5 K 6 3 2 A 6 3 10 2 J 3 9 4 3 2 A Q J 8 4 K 5 Open Room West North East South Auken Bocchi Koch-Palmund Duboin 1 Pass 1 Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass

Closed Room West North East South Versace Christiansen Lauria Blakset 1 Pass 1 2 Pass Pass Dble All Pass

In the Closed Room Lars Blakset picked a very poor moment to get involved in the auction. He lost two spades, four hearts, a diamond and a club. Three down, -800.

In the replay, the auction developed so as to make West declarer and that meant he had to try and make his contract on the awkward club lead.

South overtook the queen of clubs and returned the suit. Declarer won, crossed to the king of spades, hoping for J10 doubleton, and then cashed his hearts. When the spades failed to break his last chance was to find South with all the diamond honours. No luck there so he was one down.

It was suggested that if declarer had ducked the second club and won the third round South would subsequently have been subjected to a one-suit squeeze in diamonds. He can discard the four of diamonds on the third round of clubs, but is stuck when the third spade winner is cashed. True enough, but North can spoil the party by switching to the ten of diamonds at trick three.

The swing of 900 points gave Italy 14 IMPs.

Board 7. Dealer South. Game All 10 9 4 Q J 8 5 A Q 5 2 9 6 K Q 6 2 A 8 5 3 3 K 7 10 7 6 4 K J 9 8 3 8 4 3 2 Q J J 7 A 10 9 6 4 2 — A K 10 7 5 Open Room West North East South Auken Bocchi Koch-Palmund Duboin 1 Pass 2 Dble 3 3 4 All Pass

Closed Room West North East South Versace Christiansen Lauria Blakset 1 Pass 1 Pass 1NT Pass 3 Pass 4 Pass 4 Pass 4NT Pass 5 All Pass

1 was a relay and 1NT showed clubs. After Jens Auken's excellent bid of Three Spades, it came as a surprise when Dennis Koch-Palmund didn't bid Four Spades. It would probably be a cheap save and on the actual hand South might be tempted to go on to Five Hearts. If that had happened it would have been a flat board, but as it was, the fact that the Danish pair in the other room got to that contract under their own steam cost them another 12 IMPs.

Denmark missed a chance to strike back on this deal:

Board 9. Dealer North. E/W Game K Q 7 2 9 7 2 A K J 8 6 K A 8 6 5 3 — A K 6 J 8 5 4 3 — 7 4 3 2 Q 9 5 4 3 A J 7 6 J 10 9 4 Q 10 Q 10 9 5 10 8 2 Open Room West North East South Auken Bocchi Koch-Palmund Duboin 1 Pass 3 Dble Pass 4 Pass Pass 5 Dble All Pass

Closed Room West North East South Versace Christiansen Lauria Blakset 1 1 Dble Redble 3 Pass Pass Dble All Pass

The auction in the Closed Room saw East make an emaciated overcall, 'for the lead partner' and when South made a negative double and West preferred to redouble, rather than raise hearts, North had to decide how many spades to bid. His choice of Three Spades was enough for West, who decided to take the money.

It turned out to be +500. Jeff Rubens, one of the Editors of the American magazine, 'The Bridge World' has coined the phrase, 'vulnerability syndrome' that he uses to describe actions, which are unsound, but caused by being non-vulnerable against vulnerable opponents. Was Bocchi victim of the disease? Well if he was, he got away with it. East led a heart, but West failed to find the killing switch to ace and another spade that would have produced an 800 penalty. Declarer was allowed to escape for the same 500 recorded in the other room.

Italy had taken a firm grip on the match, but in the second half the Danes staged a recovery, and the final margin was only 10 IMPs which translated into a win for the holders by 17-13 VP.

There are 36 nations represented in Montecatini - the 35 in the Open teams and Monaco. Of these, 30 sent delegates to the first meeting of Congress.

The President's Report

The President, Bill Pencharz, gave his report of the two years since the last Congress in Vilamoura. The former President, Andrè Boekhorst, had tragically died just three days after his election. This followed the retirement of Josè Damiani. The former Treasurer, Karl Rohan, had also retired, and Mr. Pencharz paid special tribute to these three persons.

The President reported on his travels: to the first World Junior Pairs and Camp in Ghent, to the Bridge Promotion week in Milan, and, in March 1996, to the Philip Morris Mixed Championships in Monaco. Soon after this came the bombshell that Philip Morris was to end its sponsorship after twenty years association with the EBL. He paid tribute to their support. A visit to the European Union championships in Ostend had resolved the problem presented by having their Mixed Pairs so close in time to that of the EBL. "The European Union Bridge League is looking more and more of an anachronism with no proper role to fulfil..... I therefore look forward to the day when the two bodies merge."

In July 1996 the President had visited the European Youth Championships in Cardiff with a record 26 nations in the Junior teams and a record 14 nations in the Schools. He paid tribute to Panos Gerontopoulos for his role in the development of Junior bridge, "the great success story of the last fifteen years."

The President had attended the WBF Meetings in Rhodes as an EBL delegate. The EBL represented more than half the WBF, both in numbers of members and provision of finance, and was under-represented in the management of the WBF.

In March 1997 came the European Open and Senior Pairs in The Hague, held for the first time without the sponsorship of Philip Morris. The prize money had not been reduced and the number of participants was the same as in Rome. The event had therefore made a loss. Nevertheless it had been a success. The Dutch had the biggest membership in Europe. In addition to the European Pairs, they would be hosting the World Pairs Olympiad in Maastricht in three years time. Yugoslavia had been re-admitted to membership. Generali was to continue its sponsorship of the Europeans, for which there was much reason to thank its President, Antoine Bernheim. The President expected the next European Pairs to be held in Warsaw. Events already planned were:

The League is in good financial shape, and served by experienced personnel. In the last two years Europeans have won these world titles: 1995 World Junior teams (Great Britain); World Junior Pairs Geir Helgemo & Boye Brogeland of Norway; Venice Cup (Germany); 1996 Olympiad (France); World Mixed Teams Great Britain & Iceland.

We have lost, through planned retirement, Josè Damiani and Karl Rohan, and through untimely death, Andrè Boekhorst.

We have also lost our sponsor, Philip Morris, who brought us 100,000 Swiss Francs per year. That is why we had to cancel the Simultaneous Pairs. Your Executive is working on ideas to make the EBL financially independent of a single sponsor; we are promoting bridge as a mindsport; and we have a target of increasing the number of registered bridge-players in Europe to half-a-million by the end of 1999: "half-a-million by the millenium".

The President concluded with thanks to the various staff of the EBL.

The Treasurer's Report

The Treasurer, Fejo Durksz, presented the Budget for 1998-1999 which was approved by Congress. He also presented a new tariff of subscription fees for the coming year which was approved. In total this represented a small increase, the first since 1994, but the formula relative to registered membership had also been amended. This resulted in a higher payment for the larger Federations, in particular the Netherlands, and a slight reduction for some countries in the middle bracket. As these were quoted in Swiss Francs some countries would also benefit from the relative weakness of that currency. "We used to have a tradition of keeping our assets in the currency of our President. As the pound sterling has, in the last year, been one of the strongest currencies, I regret not following that policy this year," said Mr. Durksz.

The Protocol & Ladies Committees

The Chairman of both Committees, Mrs. Anna-Maria Torlontano, presented her reports, beginning with thanks to those who had assisted her in her work. Protocol A booklet called "Hospitality & Protocol at EBL Official Events" had been prepared. This contained much practical advice about presentation in addition to the regulations set by the EBL. It would be provided to any Federation hosting an EBL event.

Ladies

The Ladies Pairs championship in Montecatini would, for the first time, have money prizes valued at 12,500 Swiss Francs, thanks to Generali.

The next Ladies Jamboree would be in Budapest in May 1998. This would be organised by the Hungarian Federation and would include a trip on the Orient Express to Vienna with a bridge contest on board on the way back! During the last year Generali has also helped in contacting 125,000 lady-players in Europe. A Delegates meeting had been held in Montecatini and Mrs. Torlontano concluded with thanks to the President for attending this meeting and hearing the views of the delegates present.

The Systems Committee

The Chairman, Jens Auken, described recent changes in the Systems Policy, and said he would attempt to see the WBF made no further changes in the near future.

We can't resist pointing out that the title of this article is part of a quotation by the celebrated actress Mae West: 'To err is human - but it feels divine!'

by 'Goren in a Box'

Board 21 in Round 4 separated the humans from the machines. The nine pairs who reached 6 were quite content to be there, until the trumps turned out to misbehave.

	A 7			9 8 5
	8 5			A Q 4 3
	A K Q 8 7 4 2			5
	K 6			A J 7 4 2

Almost everywhere the lead was Q to the ace. North showed out on the second trump trick. What is the best line from here?

Eight declarers continued by cashing K and playing a club to the jack, with a quick two down as a result. I gave the hands to GIB (Goren in a Box), the amazing bridge program of the American professor Matt Ginsberg. After discovering the trump break, GIB thought for a minute and played the third high diamond, K and a club to the...ace. A club ruff, heart finesse and another club ruff followed. A was still in dummy as an entry to the fifth club, the parking place for the spade loser.

So GIB does it again, here outplaying eight out of nine expert declarers. We all laughed when the World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov was being terrorized by Deep Blue, but humiliation is on its way for us too...

The only "machine" among the nine declarers was Belarus' young talent Sotniku, who copied GIB's line of play card for card. A quick analysis shows that Sotniku and GIB are correct. By refusing to finesse Q you give up the chance on Qxx onside with K offside, but in return you not only get the extra chance of K onside and Qxx offside, but also K onside with either Qx or Qxxx offside. This was the full deal:

Board 21. Dealer North. N/S Game Q J 10 6 2 K J 9 6 2 10 10 8 A 7 9 8 5 8 5 A Q 4 3 A K Q 8 7 4 2 5 K 6 A J 7 4 2 K 4 3 10 7 J 9 6 3 Q 9 5 3

To be fair, I have to add that there was another declarer who made twelve tricks. Jens Auken of Denmark played carefully to score 3+3 for a well deserved two imp pickup when Finland didn't come to more than ten tricks in 4. Thanks to Onno Eskes (Netherlands) for this fascinating - and disturbing article.

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